The letter to Secretary Pompeo, Ambassador Sison, and Acting Secretary Wolf was originally published here.
The Honorable Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
The Honorable Michele J. Sison
U.S. Ambassador to Haiti
Tabarre 41
Route de Tabarre
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
The Honorable Chad Wolf
Acting Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
301 7th Street SW
Washington, DC 20024
June 19, 2020
Re: Moratorium on Deportations to Haiti during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dear Secretary Pompeo, Ambassador Sison and Acting Secretary Wolf:
We write to express our gravest concern regarding U.S. deportations to Haiti during the coronavirus pandemic. Deportations export COVID-19 throughout the region and put countless lives at risk. The current COVID-19 reported incidence is spiraling out of control, and the true infection numbers are far higher, creating a situation where the capacity in Haiti’s health system to respond to COVID-19 cases is already at its limit. An ongoing surge of infection could destroy an already weak economy and exacerbate political instability. These conditions could perpetuate the cycle of migration to the United States, as Haitians desperate for work, security and survival will be forced to leave Haiti.
We respectfully ask that your offices immediately halt deportations to Haiti during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is simply no safe way to deport persons; deportations risk the consequent spread of this highly contagious and deadly disease in receiving nations, both among COVID-19 negative passengers traveling with COVID-19 positive ones, as well as people on the ground in Haiti. Containing the spread of COVID-19 may also prevent a future flow of Haitian migrants to the United States.
Given the severe limitations on the availability of COVID testing and the unreliability of test results, deportations should be halted without condition. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are not taking adequate steps to prevent, treat or test for COVID contagion in ICE detention facilities, which have become hotspots of COVID-19 outbreaks. ICE has reported that only 30 percent of detainees had been tested for COVID-19, and of those tested about 30 percent tested positive for the virus (2110 confirmed cases). As the weeks and months pass, we are seeing a significant increase in cases among both ICE detainees and detention facility staff.
ICE has also been reluctant to test detainees before deporting them. Since mid-March, at least three deportees to Haiti, 102 deportees to Guatemala and deportees to Mexico have tested positive for COVID-19. The Guatemalan government estimated that recently returned immigrants made up more than 20 percent of the country’s confirmed COVID-19 cases. In addition, 22 of 76 deportees to India, four to El Salvador and some to Romania have tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in their home countries from ICE detention facilities.
Even more concerning, ICE placed at least six persons who they knew had tested positive for COVID-19 on the initial manifest for the May 11 Haiti deportation flight. Ultimately, after lawyers for the detainees notified the press, the six persons were not deported. However, advocates are reasonably concerned that absent media attention, the individuals who had tested positive may have landed in Haiti.
Even if a more stringent testing protocol were adopted, deportations should still be prohibited, as the accuracy of COVID testing varies widely. Moreover, the very act of placing individuals on an ICE flight—by definition a congregate setting where air recirculates for hours —facilitates infections after the tests have been administered but before the plane touches down in the receiving nation. Deportees to Haiti have reported being placed next to each other without an empty seat in between. The United States lost credibility on assurances to receiving countries after four Guatemalan detainees tested positive for COVID-19 in early May, one of whom the U.S. government certified had tested negative.
We are concerned that ICE is both not testing all deportees — it tested only 16 of 30 persons deported to Haiti on May 26, per an ICE spokesperson, contradicting assurances from Ambassador Sison that all deportees would be tested within 72 hours of departure — and that it is using unreliable “rapid” tests. The Food and Drug Administration on May 14 stated that rapid tests can be inaccurate, and recommended confirming negative results with a high-sensitivity authorized molecular test. ICE apparently “rapid” tested the 16 Haitians on May 25, but did not confirm negative results. One of the Haitians deported on May 26 complained the night before and in prior days to difficulty breathing, fever, and pain in his chest and legs. He was deported anyway.
While COVID-19 cases exceed 2.2 million in the U.S., 4547 cases and 80 deaths have been confirmed in Haiti, as determined by 9353 tests. As the Ministry of Health and other experts race to put together more resources, Haiti’s scientific community strongly opposes receiving any more deportees during the pandemic. Haitian health experts estimated that there are 39 physicians to manage COVID-19, 124 ICU beds and the capacity to ventilate 62 people in a country of 11 million. DHS found in 2017 that “Extreme poverty, corruption, and low levels of education in Haiti challenge its resilience and have contributed to the government’s longstanding inability to adequately provide for the security, health, and safety of its citizenry.”
The pandemic looms at a time of acute economic and political turmoil. Haiti’s inflation is at 22 percent, the value of the Gourde has dropped by 37.6 percent since October 2018, and the price of food has doubled, and in some cases quadrupled. USAID warns of “acute food insecurity,” and according to the United Nations, 40 percent of Haitians require urgent humanitarian assistance.
In January 2020, after two months of a tense lockdown that closed roads, schools and businesses, the mandates of most members of Parliament and all mayors were terminated due to delayed elections. The political instability has resulted in a sharp increase in violent crime, causing the U.S. State Department to issue a level 4 travel advisory in March 2020, labeling Haiti as dangerous as conflict zones such as Afghanistan, South Sudan and Somalia.
As you know, Haiti’s economy and political stability have been devastated by the 2010 earthquake, a cholera epidemic brought by the UN that took over 10,000 lives, Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and violent elections in 2015-16, all of which caused outward migration. Today, approximately 3,500 Haitians live in Tijuana, awaiting U.S. immigration proceedings. If the Haitian government is unable to contain the spread of COVID-19 and cases proliferate, the country could be on lockdown for months, exacerbating unemployment and insecurity, and perpetuating another wave of migration bound for the United States.
There is precedent for temporarily suspending deportation flights to Haiti due to extreme hardship. In January 2010, DHS suspended deportations in light of the earthquake. Sending deportation flights to Haiti during a global pandemic in light of its weak public health system, acute food insecurity, impoverished living conditions, and level 4 travel advisory by the United States is reminiscent of when DHS terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) effective January 18, 2018, despite finding that Haiti remained unable to safely repatriate its nationals. A federal district court struck down DHS’s termination of TPS as “influenced by White House officials’ political motivations” to “ignore statutory guidelines” and “to abate non-white immigrants in the country.” (See Saget v. Trump, 375 F. Supp. 3d 280 (E.D.N.Y); see also Ramos v. Nielsen, 321 F.Supp.3d 1083 (N.D.Cal)).
We respectfully request that you use the powers and knowledge inherent in your position to halt deportations during the coronavirus pandemic to prevent further destabilizing the country and region, and to prevent the massive loss of lives.More narrowly tailored measures are available to protect U.S. interests, such as releasing and monitoring detainees to shelter in place with their families, rather than deportations to a country already buckling under an over-burdened infrastructure. Given the unequal power relationship between the United States and Haiti and the number of lives at stake, it is especially important that the United States allow Haiti to freely choose what’s in the best interest of its people, and avoid attempts to coerce them with threats to withhold visa privileges or awarding ventilators if they do not receive deportation flights.
Thank you Secretary Pompeo, Ambassador Sison and Acting Secretary Wolf for your attention. As we celebrated Haitian culture the month of May in the United States, we are reminded of the Haitian proverb, l’Union Fait la Force (Strength in Unity).
cc: Honorable President Jovenel Moïse
Honorable Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe
Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs Claude Joseph
Honorable Ambassador Hervé H. Denis
Honorable Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi
Honorable Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy
Sincerely,
- Edwidge Danticat, Author
- Danny Glover, Actor
- Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Founder & President, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
- Ibram X. Kendi, Founding Director, BU Center for Antiracist Research
- Opal Tometi, Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter
- Jackson Browne, Musician
- Rainn Wilson, Co-founder, Lide Haiti
- Barbara Ransby, Ph.D, University of Illinois at Chicago, Scholar, Activist, Author
- Rep. Dotie Joseph, State Representative, Florida House of Representatives
- Alix Desulme, President, National Haitian-Americans Elected Officials Network (NHAEON)
- Dr. Mathylde Frontus, Assemblywoman, New York State Assembly
- Daniella Levine-Cava, Miami Dade Commissioner and Mayoral Candidate
- Michael Joseph, Commissioner, City of North Miami Beach, FL
- Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance
- Jonathan Jayes-Green, Vice President, Marguerite Casey Foundation
- Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, General Secretary. General Board of Church and Society; The United Methodist Church
- Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO, Church World Service
- Dr. Paul Farmer, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, Partners In Health
- Abby Maxman, President and CEO, Oxfam America
- Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, President & CEO, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
- Michael Breen, President & CEO, Human Rights First
- J Ron Byler, Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
- Robert Maguire, Ph.D., Professor of International Development Studies, George Washington University
- Marielena Hincapié, Executive Director, National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
- Marie Daniella Charles-Belzie, MD, President, Haitian American Psychiatric Association
- Vince Warren, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights
- Florence Elie, former UN Advisor, Ombudsman for Haitain Office of the Protector of Citizens and Member of the Cabinet of the Minister of Justice
- Michele Montas-Dominique, Journalist, Former Director of Radio Haiti, Radio Haiti
- Frantz Voltaire, Président, CIDIHCA
- Randall Robinson, Former President, TransAfrica
- Colette Lespinasse, Membre, Partenaires pour la Citoyennete Engagee en Haiti (PCEH)
- Guetty Felin, Artistic Director, 2004Images
- Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, Founder and Chair, The Haitian Roundtable
- Conor Bohan, Executive Director, HELP
- Marleine Bastien, Executive Director, Family Action Network Movement
- Nadine Duplessy Kearns, Founder & Steering Committee Chair, Haitian Ladies Network
- Karen Andre, Former White House Liaison to HUDD
- David Belle, Artists Institute
- Josie Maran, Josie Maran Cosmetics
- Michelle Morse, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Co-Founder, Harvard Medical School and EqualHealth
- Amanda Klasing, Co-Director (Acting), Women’s Rights, Human Rights Watch
- Mark Schuller Ph.D, President of the Board of Directors, Haitian Studies Association
- Karen Keating Ansara, Fund Advisor, Ansara Family Fund
- Mary H White, MD, Advisory Board member, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
- Christina Fialho, Co-Founder/Executive Director, Freedom for Immigrants
- Holiday Reinhorn, Co-founder, Lide Haiti
- Paul Beaubrun, Musician
- Glenn R Smucker, Ph.D, Founding Partner, Manifest Haiti
- Anne-christine d’Adesky, Co-Founder, Act Up – Fight Covid-19
- Eugenia Charles, Executive Director, Fondasyon Mapou
- Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, Former President, Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Robert Nicholas, Executive Director, AME-SADA, INC
- Jake Johnston, Senior Research Associate, Center for Economic and Policy Research
- Scott W Morgan, Executive Director, Haitian Global Health Alliance
- Dr. Sasha Kramer, Co-founder and Executive Director, Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL)
- Nicaise Avignon, Executive Director, COFHED
- Dr. Fritz Fils-Aimé, Executive Committee and President, Democrats Abroad and Haitian American Veterans Association (HAVA)
- Dr. Cate Oswald, Partners In Health
- Mercedes Becerra, Director, Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Salmaan Keshavjee, Director, Harvard Center for Global Health Delivery, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Alice M. Miller, J.D., Co-Director, Global Health Justice Partnership of the Yale Law and Public Health Schools
- Franciscka Lucien, Executive Director, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
- Margaret Satterthwaite, Professor of Clinical Law, Global Justice Clinic, NYU School of Law
- Melinda Miles, Managing Partner, Manifest Haiti
- William P. Quigley, Loyola University New Orleans, Professor of Law
- Ira J. Kurzban, Attorney, Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli Pratt, Attorneys at Law
- Peter Hallward, Professor of Philosophy, Kingston University
- Dr. Monalisa Ferrari, Member, United Front of the Haitian Diaspora
- Aaron Goldberg, Musician
- Rev. Dieufort J Fleurissaint, True Alliance Center Inc.
- Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Fr. Jack Martin, President, Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast
- Rev. Eugene Squeo, President, New Jersey Forum for Human Rights
- James Silk, Binger Clinical Professor of Human Rights, Yale Law School
- Blaine Bookey, Legal Director, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
- Elaine Zuckerman, President, Gender Action
- Amber Walsh, Director of Operations, Haitian Education & Leadership Program (HELP)
- Karen Musalo, Professor, Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings
- Richard A. Boswell, Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings
- Michelle Karshan, Executive Director, Alternative Chance – Chans Altenativ
- Cristina Jiménez, Executive Director & Co-Founder, United We Dream
- Rich Stolz, Executive Director, OneAmerica
- Wendy Young, President, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
- Barbara C Sampson, President of the Board of Friends of Matènwa, Friends of Matènwa
- Clark Seipt, Executive Director, Community Coalition for Haiti
- Isabelle Clérié, Project Director, Fondation Devoir de Mémoire – Haïti
- Marie-Marguerite B. Clérié, Présidente, Fondation Devoir DE Mémoire-Haïti
- David Diggs, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Beyond Borders
- John Engle, Director, Haiti Partners
- Brian Concannon, Jr., Founder and Executive Director, Project Blueprint
- Ellie Happel, Haiti Project Director, Global Justice Clinic, NYU School of Law
- Yifat Susskind, Executive Director, MADRE
- John Marchese, Executive Director, Quixote Center
- Christine W Low, Executive Director, Friends of Matènwa
- Sr. Kathy Thornton, RSM, Executive Director, Mercy Focus on Haiti
- Debbie Harvey, Founder and CEO, Helping Haitian Angels
- Dr Billy Beaufils, President, Haitian Ministry Theophile Churches
- Joel R Kupferman, Founder, Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti
- Amaha Kassa, Founder and Executive Director, African Communities Together
- Adoubou Traore, Executive Director, African Advocacy Network
- Sara Wolf, Head of Programs, AMURT-Haiti
- Demeter Russafov, Director, AMURT-Haiti
- Kim Lamberty, President, Just Haiti, Inc
- Anna Reeve, Program Coordinator, Caris Foundation
- Chad W Bissonnette, Executive Director, Roots of Development
- Patrice Lawrence, Co-Director, UndocuBlack Network
- Pabitra Khati Benjamin, Executive Director, Adhikaar
- Nicole Elizabeth Ramos, Director, Border Rights Project, Al Otro Lado
- Mustafa Jumale, Policy Manager, The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
- Lisa Haugaard, Co-director, Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
- Rev Jimmie Hawkins, Director, Office of Public Witness, Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Jill Weber, Haitian in country liaison, Mercy Focus on Haiti
- Beverly Bell, Associate Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies
- Jacques Bartoli, Representative in Haiti, Haitian Resource Development Organization
- Sr. Patricia McDermott, President, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
- Tatiana Mora, Head of Operations, #SHE_BUILDS Global Initiative
- Gladys Pean
- Carol M Bigio
- Philippe Elie
- Holly Cooper, Co-Director, UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic
- Marjorie Florestal, UC Davis, Adjunct Professor
- Rev. David Emmanuel Goatley, PhD, Research Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies and Director of the Office of Black Church Studies, Duke Divinity School
- Brynna Bolt, President, Hastings to Haiti Partnership
- Sister Charmaine Krohe, SSND, Provincial Leader, School Sisters of Notre Dame Atlantic-Midwest Province
- Maureen A Foltz, Sister, Carmelite Sisters, Vedruna
- Joy A Peterson, Promoter of Justice, Congregational Leadership, Sisters of the Presentation
- Fr. Terrence Moran, Director, Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity/Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth
- Sister Peg Regan, Member, Lower Fairfield County Immigration Collaborative
- Patricia Erickson, OP
- Linda Stilling SSND, Sister, School Sisters of Notre Dame
- Sheilamarie Tobbe, Adult Literacy Coordinator, Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland
- Toni Stuart, Member, Immaculate Heart Community
- Patricia Connolly, Sister, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul
- Frances Tobin RSCJ, Member, Religious of the Sacred Heart
- Mary Ann Buckley, Member, Society of the Holy Child Jesus
- Rosemarie Abate, Board Member, Sistes, Home Visitors of Mary
- Christina Fuller OSF, Sister, Franciscan Sister of the Sacred Heart
- Mary Kozmik, Associate, St Paul’s Monastery
- Karen J. Hartman, S, F, P. Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, US Area
- Sister Mary Brigid Clingman, OP, Promoter of Justice, Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids
- Ann Scholz, SSND, Associate Director for Social Mission, Leadership Conference of Women Religious
- Sister Noella Poinsette, Director of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of St. Francis (Oldenburg)
- Sister Eileen Gannon, Executive Team Member, Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
- Sister Ruth Battaglia CSA, Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation Coordinator, Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
- Kathleen Bryant, Leadership Team, Religious Sisters of Charity
- Sister Janet Kinney, CSJ, Sisters of St. Joseph
- Cecile Roeger, Promoter of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, Dominican Sisters of Houston
- Toby Lardie, HM, Pastoral Leader, Sisters of the Humility of Mary
- Josie Chrosniak, Coordinator, JPIC OFFICE. – Sisters of the Humility of Mary
- Sr. Barbara Flores, WP Leadership team, SCN
- Sr. Sangeeta Ayithamattam, Congregational Leadership, SCN
- Benita Coffey, OSB, Promoter of Social Justice, Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
- Sister Ellen Maroney, IHM, President, Sisters of IHM, Scranton, PA
- Sr. Rosemary Russell, Chair, Immigrant and Refugee Committee, Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O’Fallon, MO
- Sr. Jackulin Jesu, SCN, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Congregational Leadership
- Sr. Valorie Lordi OP, Vowed Sister, Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary
- Sr. Sharon Gray, SCN, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Western Province Leadership
- Deacon Roberta Wall, Secretary, Haitian Bridge Alliance
- Sister Laura Donovan, RDC, President, Sisters of the Divine Compassion
- Margaret Perron and Members of Provincial Team, Provincial and Members of Provincial Team, USA – Haiti Province, Religious of Jesus and Mary
- Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
- Margaret fry Keating
- Niani Montgomery Kilkenny
- Mary Elizabeth MIller, Sister, Sisters of Charity
- Anne Wambach, Benedictine Sisters of Erie
- Sister Ethel Howley, Social Responsibility Resource Person, School Sisters of Notre Dame
- Sr. Susan Wilcox, Coordinator, Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood NY Office of Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation
- Colleen Kammer, Director of Peace, Justice and Ecology, Sisters of the Precious Blood, Dayton, OH
- Rosie Miller, Sr., Sisters of St. Francis
- Matthew M Kavanagh, PhD, Director, Global Health Policy Initiative, O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, Georgetown University
- Christa Franzer, Congregational Minister, Sisters of St. Francis
- Bill Montross, Exec. Bd. Member, D.C. Chapter, National Lawyers Guild
- Michael Ray, Member, American Immigration Lawyers Assoc.
- Mike De La Rocha, Co-Founder, Revolve Impact
- Andrea Healy, Volunteer, Mercy Focus on Haiti
- Andrea Mercado, Executive Director, New Florida Majority
- Tyler Moran, Executive Director, Immigration Hub
- Jennifer Nagda, Policy Director, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
- Kathy O’Leary, Region Coordinator, Pax Christi New Jersey
- Oscar Chacon, Executive Director, Alianza Americas
- Erin Anderson, Pro Bono Coordinator, Al Otro Lado
- Mily Treviño-Sauceda, Executive Director, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
- Margaret Conley, Director, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
- Eleni Wolfe-Roubatis, Executive Director, Immigrant Legal Defense
- Ray Huber Jr, Database Analyst, Fonkoze USA
- Jose Servin, Communications Coordinator, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
- Jackie Gonzalez, Policy Director, Immigrant Defense Advocates
- Rev. Emmett L. Dunn, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Lott Carey
- Donald Anthonyson, Executive Director, Families for Freedom
- Paola Luisi, Co-Director of Families Belong Together, Families Belong Together
- NorCal Resist, Sacramento, California
- Carolina Martín Ramos, Director of Programs and Advocacy, Centro Legal de La Raza
- Martha Arevalo, Central American Resource Center – CARECEN- of California, Executive Director
- Maricela Gutierrez, Executive Director, Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN)
- R. Ragbir, Executive Director, New Sanctuary Coalition
- Kham Moua, Director of National Policy, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
- Carolyn Burr, Volunteer Phone Support, Freedom for Immigrants
- Min. Mario Fuentes, Minister, LA Voice
- Stacie Chaiken, Member, Bend The Arc
- Alina Das, Co-Director and Professor of Clinical Law, NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic
- Pini Herman, Co-chair Immigration Justice Committee, Bend the Arc
- Stephanie Guiloud, Co-Director, Project South
- Emery Wright, Co-Director, Project South
- Rabbi Mark Borovitz
- Jeannie Economos, Health and Safety Project Coordinator, Farmworker Association of Florida
- Sophia Rome, Lay Leader, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
- Russell Jauregui, Staff Attorney, San Bernardino Community Service Center
- Maura Reinbrecht, Law Student Intern, Legal Aid Society
- Gabi Kuhn
- Lakshmi Sridaran, Executive Director, South Asian Americans Leading Together
- Kristina Shull, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Global American Studies, Harvard University
- Ian Stringham, Executive Director, California Legal Research
- Jennifer Ferrigno, Co-Director, National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights
- Karrie Ann Melendrez, Team Leader, Bend the Arc
- Erika Andiola, Chief of Advocacy, RAICES
- Esther Hernandez-Medina, Visiting Assistant Professor, Pomona College
- Kelly Paulemon, Social Media Coordinator, Summits Education
- Karen Tumlin, Director/Founder, Justice Action Center
- Esperanza Cuautle, Co-Director, Pangea Legal Services
- Kimberley Osias, Intern, Haitian Bridge Alliance
- Francesca Konner, Intern, Haitian Bridge Alliance
- Sarah Sarzynski, Associate Professor, Claremont McKenna College
- Peniel Ibe, Policy Engagement Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee
- Organizers from Allies to End Detention, San Diego, California, Allies to End Detention
- Marie Lucey, Associate Director, Franciscan Action Network
- Thomas M. Griffin, Partner, Surin & Griffin, P.C.
- Karen Hoffmann, Esq., Attorney, Syrena Law
- Serge Bellegarde
- Rev. Mark Stephenson, Interim Director, Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice
- Carolyn Mellin, Managing Director, Summits Education
- Taif Jany, Policy Entrepreneur, Next100
- Michelle Liang, Policy & Communications Associate, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
- Kate Jastram, Director of Policy & Advocacy, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
- Diana Konate, Policy Director, African Communities Together
- Margaret A. Baker, DrPH, Convener, South Bay People Power
- Joseph Tomás Mckellar, Co-Director, PICO California
- John Baumann, S.J., Founder & Director of Special Projects, Faith in Action International
- Yael Pineda, Member, Koreatown Popular Assembly
- Jorge Gutierrez, Executive Director, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
- Maegan E. Ortiz, Executive Director, Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California
- Samuel Rubin, Director of Impact & Strategy, Young Entertainment Activists
- Sania Irfan, Impact Coordinator, Young Entertainment Activists
- Luisa Del Giudice, Independent, Los Angeles
- Raymonda Schwartz
- Lisa Madison, VP Distribution & Outreach, Square Zero Films
- Kit-Bacon Gressitt, Publisher, Writers Resist literary journal
- Sara Marchant, Prose Editor, Writers Resist
- Dr. Paul G. Rothberg
- Craig Scott, Co-Chair, Desert Support for Asylum Seekers
- Jacinta Gonzalez, Senior Campaign Organizer, Mijente
- Roberto Herrera, Director of Community Engagement, Resilience Orange County
- Catherine Gavin, Citizen, Los Angeles
- Stephanie Yang, Director, Blue Jaguar Healing Arts
- Alexandra Heath, Member, Heath & Deitch Household
- Ms. Vera Tykulsker, Resource Generation – LA
- Queen Hollins, Executive Steward, Earthlodge Center for Transformation
- Mackenzie Carlson, Member, Resource Generation
- Katie Lindsay, Member, Resource Generation
- Amy Wang, Member, Resource Generation
- Sylvie Q. Ngassa Bello, Founder/CEO, Cameroon American Council
- Benjamin Rempel, Member, Resource Generation
- Athena Tan, Member, Resource Generation Los Angeles
- Sofia Chang, Member, Resource Generation
- Jessica Maxwell, Executive Director, Workers Center of Central New York
- Ian Schiffer, Member, Resource Generation Los Angeles
- Hanna Mahon
- Felicity Figueroa, Co-Chair, Orange County Equality Coalition
- Carolyn Scofield, Founder, Chula Vista Partners in Courage
- Marilyn Vassos, Chair, Women For Peace & Justice
- Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis, PhD, Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church
- Rev. William H. Critzman, Senior Minister, West End Collegiate Church
- Wynn Walent, Executive Director, Colorado Haiti Project
- SPLC Action Fund
- Julia Coburn, Director of Operations in Mexico, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM)
- Ms. Leslie Elliottsmith, Volunteer
- Amy Katz, Steering committee, Indivisible CenLa
- Jennifer Lee Koh, President of Board of Directors, Orange County Justice Fund
- Isaac Bale, Sales Rep, Vector Marketing
- Osmanee Offre, Member, Young Entertainment Activists
- Jacqueline Walukas
- Gabrielle Apollon, Esq., Managing Attorney, The Door’s Legal Services Center
- Dr. Ruth Needleman, Co- Coordinator, NEI Resist
- Mrs. Lorna H. Henkel, First Friends of NJ & NY
- Rosa Santana, Program Director, First Friends of NJ & NY
- Haley Margolin, Member, Young Entertainment Activists
- Addison Bale, Volunteer Interpreter, New Sanctuary Coalition
- Matt Nguyen-Ngo, Civil Rights Fellow, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
- Dana Brawer, TV Writer
- Lorraine O’Shee, Member, Indivisible CenLa
- Mrs. Nell Hahn, Acadiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention
- Brian Lozano, Advocacy and Community Organizer Coordinator, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
- Amelia Burgess, MD, MPH, Pediatrician, Sage Prairie
- Stephanie D. Stephens, Campaign Manager, We Are All America
- Kathy Glatz, Immigration Member, FUSD
- Sabrina Yunus
- Emily Kuper, Student, CCNY
- Peter Kuper, Spouse and Husband, Father
- LaCreshia Pope
- Laura Cuellar, Co-Chair, UndocuAllies Initiative at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)
- Michael Angel Vazquez, Vice President, Harvard GSAS Latinx Student Association
- Jarvis D. Matthews, CEO, Stay Lifted! Productions
- Amanda Pinheiro, PhD Candidate, University of California – Santa Barbara
- Anulkah Thomas
- Vania Pereira, Program Coordinator, Higher Education
- Autumn Benson, Concerned citizen
- Mr. Andrew Morrish, 121 Gigawatt Group Inc.
- Lindsay Toczylowski, Executive Director, Immigrant Defenders Law Center
- Lauren Ornelas, Founder/President, Food Empowerment Project
- Peter Lowber, Member, First Parish Cambridge: Beyond Borders Sin Fronteras
- Joshua Francois, Harvard Medical School
- Jinah Kim, Owner, Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen
- Tamara Shamir, Women’s Outreach Chair, The Seneca Inc.
- Sony Prosper, Graduate Student, University of Michigan
- Patricia Bahamonde, Founder/Director, Global Refugee Relief Fund
- Mark Dow, Writer/Teacher
- Rose M. Carr, Member, Resource Generation
- Harton Firmin
- Dr. And Mrs. Charles Strom, Advisory Council Member, Orange County Jewish Coalition for Refugees
- Maggie Sullivan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, FXB Center for Health & Human Rights
- Alexandra (Sandy) Exelby, Irvine United Congregational Church
- Jacqueline Phelps, Immediate Past President and Board Member, Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Lafayette LA
- Linda Rivas, Executive Director, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center
- Becky M., Graduate Student, Harvard University
- Carol Tuch, President, Women For: Orange County
- Natia Gvazava, Journalist, ScreenLifer.com
- Sharon Lee, English Teacher, University Pathways Public Service Academy
- Madison Villanueva, Core Member, UPLIFT
- Juanita Valdez- Cox, Director, La Union del PUeblo Entero (LUPE)
- Violeta Múnera, Deputy Director, Families for Freedom
- Ana M. Fores Tamayo, Advocate, Refugee Support Network
- Maria Judith Colon, Member, Comuna caribe
- Jean Stockdale, Director, Still Waters Anti-trafficking Program
- Natalie Kobsa-Mark, Hotline Volunteer, Freedom for Immigrants
- Crystal Garland
- Kathleen HIDALGO Smyth, Peace
- María I Ceballos, Member, Luna Caribe
- Parker Lemal-Brown, Assistant, Young Entertainment Activists
- Winnie Darphin-Bacque, Sacred Steps Labyrinth Works!
- Hilda Guerrero, Coordinadora, COMUNA Caribe
- Thomas Kim, Associate Professor of Politics, Scripps College
- Terry Diggory, Co-Coordinator, Saratoga Immigration Coalition
- John Sheridan, CNY Solidarity
- Zsea Bowmani, Fellow, Santa Clara University School of Law
- Ramon Valdez, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Innovation Law Lab
- Linda C Riedmann, Member, Young Entertainment Activists
- Ariana Aparicio, Alumni, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Seydi Sarr, Founder, ABISA
- Silky Shah, Executive Director, Detention Watch Network
- Javier H. Valdés, Co-Executive Director, Make the Road New York
- Becky Belcore, Executive Director, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
- Erika Guadalupe Núñez, Executive Director, Juntos
- Beverly L Weise, Founder/President, Leadership Talent Solutions
- Kate Mahoney, Dolores Street Community Services
- Leslie Jimenez, Doctoral student, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Anahita Panahi, CA Refugee Organizer, We Are All America
- Eva Millona, President and CEO, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
- Sejal Zota, Legal Director, Just Futures Law
- Melissa Alamo, Master’s Student, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Chicano Latino Caucus
- San Francisco Latino Democratic Club
- California Statewide Coalition for Justice and Civil Rights
- Santra Denis, President & Founder, Avanse Ansanm
- Beverly Keene, Coordinator, Dialogue 2000 – Jubilee South Argentina
- Rev. Deborah Lee, Executive Director, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
- Joey Forsyte, A Band of Activists
- Saket Soni, Executive Director, Resilience Force
- Laila Aziz, Director, Pillars of the Community SD
- Rebecca Paisa, Director, Niles Sisters
- Nicole Phillips, Legal Director, Haiti Bridge Alliance